ISLAMABAD: The United States said on Wednesday it was “alarmed” by a Supreme Court order that British-born Ahmad Saeed Omar Sheikh, originally arrested and charged with American journalist Daniel Pearl’s 2002 abduction and murder, be moved from his death cell to a state rest house.
The court gave the order on Tuesday while hearing an appeal filed by the provincial government of Sindh calling for a review of the top court’s decision last week, January 28, to free Sheikh and three others convicted of beheading Pearl, a 38-year-old Wall Street Journal journalist.
Last April, a lower court acquitted all four men in a shocking turn in the 18-year-old case, but they remained detained while the order was appealed separately in the Supreme Court by Pearl’s family and the Sindh government.
Both appeals were rejected last Thursday by a three-judge bench that also ordered Sheikh be released. The decision was two-to-one.
Speaking to journalists in Washington, today, a spokesperson for the US state department was quoted by Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper as saying: “The United States remains deeply concerned by developments in the cases of those involved in Pearl’s kidnapping and murder.”
“We are alarmed by the recent order to move Sheikh and his co-conspirators from prison.”
“The SC ordered that all detainees in the case should be brought to a common barrack of jail for two days,” Pakistan’s Business Recorder newspaper said about the Supreme Court’s Tuesday ruling. “After it, they should be kept at a government rest house.”
“Sheikh’s family may also stay with him from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm,” the court said, adding that he would not be allowed mobile or Internet facilities.
The court’s decisions “represent an affront to terrorism victims everywhere, including in Pakistan,” the US state department spokesperson said, while also appreciating Islamabad’s efforts to ensure that those involved in the slaying were held accountable for their actions, Dawn reported.
“The US recognizes past Pakistani actions to hold Sheikh accountable and to seek to ensure that he and his co-conspirators remain in custody,” the official said. “We also acknowledge government requests for a review of the split Jan 28 decision.”
On Monday, the court had halted the release of Sheikh and others for 24 hours after they were expected to be freed on Tuesday.
To a question about whether it was possible that Sheikh could be released, attorney general Khalid Javed Khan told Arab News last week: “I doubt it.”
Sheikh’s father, Ahmad Saeed Sheikh, attended Tuesday’s hearing.
“It is not a complete freedom. It is a step toward freedom,” he told Reuters Television.
US says ‘alarmed’ by Pakistani court’s order to move Omar Sheikh out of prison
https://arab.news/573gh
US says ‘alarmed’ by Pakistani court’s order to move Omar Sheikh out of prison
- Supreme Court has ordered that Sheikh, originally charged with Daniel Pearl’s abduction and murder, be moved from his death cell to a state rest house
- State Department spokesman says United States remains “deeply concerned” by developments in the Pearl murder and kidnapping case
Pakistan must create 30 million jobs over next decade, World Bank president says
- World Bank President Ajay Banga says failure to create jobs could fuel “illegal migration or domestic instability” in Pakistan
- Banga urges Pakistan to fix debt-ridden power sector, describing it as “most urgent near-term priority” for country
KARACHI: Pakistan must create up to 30 million jobs over the next decade to turn its youth bulge into an economic dividend or risk instability and outward migration, World Bank President Ajay Banga said in an interview with Reuters.
Pakistan is entering the implementation phase of a 10-year Country Partnership Framework (CPF) deal agreed with the World Bank last year, while also working with the International Monetary Fund to stabilize its economy. But Islamabad is still facing mounting pressure to deliver sustained growth and jobs.
“We’re trying to move the bank group as a whole from the idea of projects to the idea of outcomes,” Banga told Reuters in Karachi during a visit this week to Pakistan.
“Job creation is the North Star.”
’GENERATIONAL CHALLENGE’
Pakistan needs to generate 2.5 million to 3 million jobs a year — roughly 25 to 30 million over the next decade — as millions of young people come of age, Banga said. Failure to do so could fuel “illegal migration or domestic instability.”
Banga said Pakistan’s population dynamics mean employment creation will remain a binding constraint on growth over the long term, rather than a secondary policy goal.
“This is a generational challenge,” he said.
The CPF commits around $4 billion a year in combined public and private financing from the World Bank Group, with roughly half expected to come from private-sector operations led by the International Finance Corporation.
Banga said the reliance on private capital reflects a country where the government has limited spending capacity and 90 percent of jobs are created in the private sector.
Pakistan’s job strategy rests on three pillars, Banga said: investment in human and physical infrastructure, business-friendly regulatory reforms, and expanded access to financing and insurance, particularly for small firms and farmers that typically lack bank credit.
Infrastructure, primary health care, tourism and small-scale agriculture were labor-intensive sectors with the greatest employment potential, he said, adding that farming alone could account for about one-third of the jobs Pakistan needs to create by 2050.
A growing pool of freelancers also highlighted Pakistan’s appetite for entrepreneurship, but they need better access to capital, infrastructure and support to scale into job-creating businesses, he said.
The strain is readily visible in the exodus of skilled workers. Nearly 4,000 doctors emigrated from Pakistan in 2025, the highest annual outflow on record, according to Gallup Pakistan data based on Bureau of Emigration figures, underscoring concerns that weak job prospects and poor working conditions are pushing trained professionals abroad.
POWER FIRST
Fixing Pakistan’s power sector is the most urgent near-term priority, Banga said, noting that losses and inefficiencies in electricity distribution have limited growth despite improvements in generation capacity.
Pakistan’s power sector has long been plagued by growing debt from distribution losses, weak bill recovery and delayed government subsidies, which has strained public finances and discouraged private investment.
The debt has been a recurring focus of IMF-backed reform programs, with successive governments struggling to contain losses while keeping energy affordable.
Banga said progress on privatization and private-sector participation in electricity distribution would be critical to improving efficiency, reducing losses and restoring the sector’s financial viability.
He said rapid rooftop solar adoption, while easing energy costs for households and businesses, risks creating grid instability if distribution reforms are not accelerated.
“Electricity is fundamental to everything — health, education, business and jobs.”
CLIMATE BY DESIGN
Banga said climate resilience should also be embedded into mainstream development spending rather than treated as a standalone agenda.
Pakistan is among the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, hit repeatedly by floods, heatwaves and erratic monsoons.
Banga said climate-resilient investments should be integrated into infrastructure, housing, water management and agriculture to support jobs while reducing long-term risks.
“The moment you start thinking about climate as separate from housing, food or irrigation, you create a false debate. Just build resilience into what you’re already doing.”
Asked how Pakistan fits into the World Bank’s global portfolio, Banga said he does not view the country through labels such as fragility or crisis, but as a long-term job-creation opportunity.
“We’re in the business of hope,” he said.
